The 18 March Division (Arabic: فرقة 18 آذار‎) is a rebel group part of the Free Syrian Army that is active during the Syrian Civil War. It was named after the 18 March 2011 protests in Daraa, it was created on 11 April 2013 by colonel Mohammed Khaled al-Duhni out of three units. On 18 July 2013, the Southern Tawhid Brigade, one of the affiliated groups, left the 18 March Division following internal disputes,[1] it joined the Southern Front on 14 February 2014.[4]

In April 2015, after 5 Southern Front groups unilaterally rejected all forms of cooperation with the al-Nusra Front, the 18 March Division clashed with al-Nusra in the Dar'a al-Balad district of Daraa. Conflicting reports stated that the al-Nusra Front captured a member of the Southern Tawhid Brigade and threw a grenade at the latter group's headquarters.[5]

On 28 September 2016, one of the group's field commanders, Hosam Abazid, was assassinated in the eastern Daraa countryside. Hosam Abazid was previously a member of the al-Nusra Front, then defected to the Southern Tawhid Brigade, then to the Islamic Muthanna Movement, and re-defected back to the 18 March Division.[3]

1.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested

2.
Syrian Civil War
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The Syrian Civil War is an armed conflict taking place in Syria. Syrian opposition groups formed the Free Syrian Army and seized control of the area surrounding Aleppo, over time, some factions of the Syrian opposition split from their original moderate position to pursue an Islamist vision for Syria, joining groups such as al-Nusra Front and ISIL. In 2015, the Yekîneyên Parastina Gel joined forces with Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Russia and Hezbollah militarily engaged in support of the Syrian government, while beginning in 2014, a coalition of NATO countries began launching airstrikes against ISIL. International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL, and some groups of severe human rights violations. The conflict has caused a major refugee crisis, over the course of the war a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations, but fighting continues. Syria became an independent republic in 1946, although democratic rule ended with a coup in March 1949, a popular uprising against military rule in 1954 saw the army transfer power to civilians. From 1958 to 1961, a union with Egypt replaced Syrias parliamentary system with a highly centralized presidential government. The secular Baath Syrian Regional Branch government came to power through a successful coup détat in 1963, for the next several years Syria went through additional coups and changes in leadership. In March 1971, Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, declared himself President, on 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. They labeled Assad the enemy of Allah and called for a jihad against his rule, the government survived a series of armed revolts by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. Upon Hafez al-Assads death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad was elected as President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma, a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, initially inspired hopes for democratic reforms. The Damascus Spring, a period of social and political debate, the Damascus Spring largely ended in August 2001 with the arrest and imprisonment of ten leading activists who had called for democratic elections and a campaign of civil disobedience. In the opinion of his critics, Bashar al-Assad had failed to deliver on promised reforms, Syrian Arabs, together with some 600,000 Palestinian Arabs, make up roughly 74 percent of the population. Syria Muslims are 74 percent Sunnis, and 13 percent Shias,3 percent were Druze, not all of the Sunnis are Arabs. Bashar is married to a Sunni, with whom he has several children and he is affiliated with the sect that his parents belong to, the minority Alawite sect which comprises an estimated 8-12 percent of the total population. Assyrians, an indigenous Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christian Semitic people, numbering approximately 500,000, are mainly in northeast Syria. A larger population lives over the border in northern Iraq, other ethnic groups include Armenians, Circassians, Turkmens, Greeks, Mhallami, Kawliya, Yezidi, Shabaks, and Mandeans. Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, the country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates

3.
Daraa Governorate
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Daraa Governorate is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 3,730 km² and it is bordered by Jordan to the south, Quneitra Governorate to the west, Rif Dimashq Governorate to the north and Al-Suwayda Governorate to the east. The governorate has a population of 998,000, the capital is the city of Daraa. Several clashes have occurred within the governorate throughout the Syrian civil war, the governorate is divided into 3 districts, Al-Sanamayn Dara Izra These are further divided into 17 sub-districts. Druze in Syria Daraa and As-Suwayda offensive Official Site of Daraa Governorate edaraa The First Complete website for daraa news and services

4.
Free Syrian Army
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The Free Syrian Army is a faction in the Syrian Civil War. It was founded on 29 July 2011 by officers who defected from the Syrian Armed Forces who said their goal was to bring down the government of Bashar al-Assad, in late 2011 it was considered the main Syrian military defectors group. From July 2012 onward, ill-discipline and infighting weakened the FSA, as the Syrian Army is highly organized and well-armed, the Free Syrian Army has adopted guerrilla-style tactics in the countryside and cities. The FSAs military strategy is focused on a dispersed countrywide guerrilla campaign with a focus on armed action in the capital of Damascus. The first defections from the Syrian Army during the Syrian uprising may have occurred end of April 2011 when the army was sent into Daraa to quell ongoing protests, there were reports that some units refused to fire on protesters and had split from the army. Video footage showed civilians helping defecting soldiers who had shot for refusing orders. At the end of July 2011, with the Syrian uprising running since March 2011 and he said that the Syrian army gangs that protect the regime, and declared that as of now, the security forces that kill civilians and besiege cities will be treated as legitimate targets. Desertion of soldiers to the Free Syrian Army was documented in videos, on 23 September 2011, the Free Syrian Army merged with the Free Officers Movement, The Wall Street Journal considered the FSA since then the main military defectors group. By October 2011, the leadership of the FSA consisting of 60–70 people including commander Riad al-Assad was harbored in an ‘officers’ camp’ in Turkey guarded by Turkish military, early November 2011, two FSA units in the Damascus area confronted regime forces. In mid-November, in an effort to weaken the pro-Assad forces, in October 2011, an American official said the Syrian military might have lost perhaps 10,000 to defections. FSA was then armed with rifles, light and heavy guns, rocket-propelled grenades. Their largest concentrations were in Homs, Hama and surrounding areas, in November 2011, The Free Syrian Army boasts it has as many 25,000 fighters in its ranks, a number challenged by its critics who say the true figure is closer to 1,000. Early December, the US International Business Times stated that the FSA counted 15,000 ex-Syrian soldiers, in the early days of their existence, 90% of the FSA consisted of Sunni Muslims, a small minority were Alawites Druze Christians, Kurds and Palestinians. An anonymously speaking U. S. official however estimated in December 20111,000 to 3,500 defectors in total. In 2011, The Turkish government provided free passage to defecting Syrian Army fighters, Turkey would allow the FSA to begin operating in nearby towns and encouraged foreign intervention in the Syrian Civil War. On 6 January 2012, General Mustafa al-Sheikh of the Syrian Army defected from the government forces to join the FSA. General Mustafa al-Sheikh told Reuters that up to 20,000 soldiers in total had deserted the army since the beginning of the conflict, and that the FSA had taken control of large swathes of land. On 7 January 2012, Colonel Afeef Mahmoud Suleima of the Syrian Air Force logistics division defected from Bashar Al Assads regime along with at least fifty of his men and he announced his groups defection on live television and ordered his men to protect protesters in the city of Hama

5.
Southern Front (Syrian rebel group)
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The Southern Front is a Syrian rebel alliance consisting of 58 or 54 Syrian opposition factions, established on 13 February 2014 in southern Syria. By June 2015, Southern Front controlled about 70 percent of Daraa Governorate, since its formation, rebels said, field operation rooms have been added inside Syria to improve coordination between units. The coalition is described by Western officials as the best organized of the mainstream opposition, the constituent groups range from secularist groups to moderate religious groups, and the Southern front has been described as a non-hardline Islamist rebel group that rejects extremism. The Southern Front is an alliance of 54 rebel groups, ranging from secularist to moderately religious, the Carter Center, a private organization in the U. S. The relation between Southern Front and Syrian armed rebel group Free Syrian Army has been described differently by different news sources, remarks of news sources about such relation are in some cases more or less compatible, in other cases incompatible. The National Interest stated on 6 July 2015 that the Southern Front is a coalition of Free Syrian Army brigades, dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad wrote on 10 October 2015, “Saudi Arabia is increasing its weapons deliveries to Syrian rebels. That concerns three different groups, Jaish al-Fatah, the Free Syrian Army, and the Southern Front and this resulted in the “Southern Front” being formed on 13 February 2014. At the same time a council was established. This political program is intended to have broad appeal among Syrian civilians, around that time, almost 40 small rebel groups joined the First Corps in the south. On 1 January 2015, the Hamza Division, Syria Revolutionaries Front southern command, as of February 2015, Southern Front operations were executed through seven so-called Southern Front operation rooms. On 15 May 2015, the Southern Front unified under one military council, on 1 June 2015, the Southern Front paraded for the graduation of one thousand new members. On 25 March 2015, the Southern Front captured the town of Bosra after a 3-day long battle, on 1 April 2015, the Southern Front captured the Nasib border crossing, the last government-controlled border crossing into Jordan. On 17 June 2015, the Southern Front launched an offensive to all of Quneitra province. On 25 June 2015, the Southern Front announced Southern Storm, an offensive to capture Daraa city, an analysis by the Heinrich Böll Foundation suggested that the Southern Front had failed to receive significant support from the Military Operations Center in Jordan. General Ibrahim Jbawi, spokesman for the Southern Front, stated in November 2014 that his group received money and weapons from the US, France, Jordan, activists said that Jordan also facilitated the Southern Front by allowing them to cross freely to and from Jordan. No American official has yet admitted to the US supporting the Southern Front, however, the MOC threatened to cut funds unless the SF launch an offensive against ISIL

6.
Syrian Armed Forces
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The Syrian Arab Armed Forces are the military forces of the Syrian Arab Republic. They consist of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Navy, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, according to the Syrian constitution, the President of Syria is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The military is a force, males serve in the military upon reaching the age of 18. Before the start of the Syrian Civil War, the military service period was being decreased over time. In 2005, it was reduced from two and a years to two years, in 2008 to 21 months and in 2011 to year and a half. The French Mandate volunteer force, which would become the Syrian army, was established in 1920 with the threat of Syrian−Arab nationalism in mind. Although the units officers were originally all French, it was, in effect, in 1925, this force was expanded and designated as the Special Troops of the Levant. After the Allies takeover, the army came under the control of the Free French and was designated the Levantine Forces, French Mandate authorities maintained a gendarmerie to police Syrias vast rural areas. This paramilitary force was used to combat criminals and political foes of the Mandate government, in 1938, the Troupes Spéciales numbered around 10,000 men and 306 officers. A majority of the Syrian troops were of rural background and minority ethnic origin, mainly Alawis, Druzes, Kurds, by the end of 1945, the army numbered about 5,000 and the gendarmerie some 3,500. The Syrian Armed Forces fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and were involved in a number of military coups, between 1948 and 1967, a series of military coups destroyed the stability of the government and any remaining professionalism within the armed forces. In March 1949, the chief of staff, General Husni al-Zaim, two more military dictators followed by December 1949. General Adib Shishakli then held power until deposed in the 1954 Syrian coup detat, further coups followed, each attended by a purge of the officer corps to remove supporters of the losers from the force. In 1963, the Military Committee of the Syrian Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Baath Party spent most of its planning to take power through a conventional military coup. A small group of officers, including Hafez al-Assad, soon seized control in the March 1963 Syrian coup detat. This measure tipped the balance in favor of Alawite officers who staged a coup in 1966, the Armed Forces were involved in the 1967 Six Day War. Since 1967, most of the Golan Heights territory of southwestern Syria has been under Israeli occupation and they then fought in the late 1960s War of Attrition, and the 1970 Black September invasion of Jordan. During the Yom Kippur War of 1973 the Syrian Army launched an invasion of Israel that was narrowly repulsed

7.
National Defence Forces (Syria)
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The NDF is made of units across various Syrian provinces, each of them consists of local volunteers willing to fight against rebels for various reasons. By the beginning of 2013, the Syrian government took steps to formalize and professionalize hundreds of Popular Committee militias under a new group dubbed the National Defence Forces, the goal was to form an effective, locally based, highly motivated force out of pro-government militias. The NDF, in contrast with the Shabiha forces, received salaries, since the formation of the NDF, Shabiha members have been incorporated into its structure. Young and unemployed men join the NDF, which see as more attractive than the Syrian Army, considered by many of them to be infiltrated by rebels. A number of recruits say they joined the group members of their families had been killed by rebel groups. In some Alawite villages almost every military-age male has joined the National Defence Force, others, like the Druze people of Al-Suwayda Governorate, join to protect their land from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In late June 2015, the Syrian government began arming citizens of this governorate against ISIL, who were harassing the local population with abductions, executions, the locals became a large and powerful NDF contingent in the governorate, including the prominent Golan Regiment. The creation of the NDF was personally overseen by Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Suleimani, Syrian security officials stated that they received assistance from Iran and Hezbollah, who both played a key role in the formalization of the NDF along the model of the Iranian Basij militia. Iran has contributed to gathering together existing neighborhood militias into a hierarchy and provided them with better equipment. The United States government has stated that Iran is helping build the group on the model of its own Basij militia. The force was reported to be 60, 000-strong as of June 2013, the NDF is composed mainly of members of the Alawite sect and are loyal to Bashar Al Assad. Units mostly operate in their areas, although members can also choose to take part in army operations. Others have claimed that the NDF does most of the fighting because NDF members, an officer in Homs, who asked not to be identified, said the army was increasingly playing a logistical and directive role, while NDF fighters act as combatants on the ground. Local branches are deemed to act with autonomy and to be not cohesive on the provincial level, provincial branches seem to be commanded by a senior officer each. Since January 2013, the NDF has a 500-strong womens wing called Lionesses of National Defence, the women are trained to use Kalashnikovs, heavy machine guns and grenades, and taught to storm and control checkpoints. The period of training can vary from 2 weeks to a month depending on whether an individual is being trained for combat, sniping. The clashes resulted in several deaths, list of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War al-Hashd al-Shaabi Documentary, National Defense Press TV documentary on Vimeo Documentary, Secret Treaties Press TV documentary on Vimeo

8.
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
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ISIL gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive, followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre. This group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, ISIL is widely known for its videos of beheadings of both soldiers and civilians, including journalists and aid workers, and its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations holds ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, ISIL originated as Jamaat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, which pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda and participated in the Iraqi insurgency following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western forces. The group proclaimed itself a caliphate and began referring to itself as Islamic State or IS in June 2014. As a caliphate, it claims religious, political, and military authority over all Muslims worldwide and its adoption of the name Islamic State and its idea of a caliphate have been widely criticised, with the United Nations, various governments, and mainstream Muslim groups rejecting its statehood. As of 2015, ISIL is estimated to have a budget of more than USD$1 billion. In April 2013, having expanded into Syria, the group adopted the name ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām, while the use of either one or the other acronym has been the subject of debate, the distinction between the two and its relevance has been considered not so great. Of greater relevance is the name Daesh, which is an acronym of ISILs Arabic name al-Dawlah al-Islamīyah fī al-ʻIrāq wa-al-Shām. This name has been used by ISILs Arabic-speaking detractors, although – and to a certain extent because – it is considered derogatory, as it resembles the Arabic words Daes. Within areas under its control, ISIL considers use of the name Daesh punishable by flogging or cutting out the tongue, in late June 2014, the group renamed itself ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah, declaring itself a worldwide caliphate. The name Islamic State and the claim to be a caliphate have been widely rejected, with the UN, various governments. Frances Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said This is a terrorist group, I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims, and Islamists. The Arabs call it Daesh and I will be calling them the Daesh cutthroats, the group is very sensitive about its name. They will cut your tongue out even if you call them ISIS – you have to say Islamic State, the Islamic State is mocked on social media websites such as Twitter and YouTube, with the use of hashtags, mock recruiting ads, fake news articles and YouTube videos. ISIL is a theocracy, proto-state and a Salafi or Wahhabi group and it follows an extremist interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence, and regards Muslims who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or apostates. According to some observers, ISIL emerged from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood and it adheres to global jihadist principles and follows the hard-line ideology of al-Qaeda and many other modern-day jihadist groups. However, other sources trace the roots to Wahhabism. For their guiding principles, the leaders of the Islamic State, are open and clear about their almost exclusive commitment to the Wahhabi movement of Sunni Islam

9.
Al-Nusra Front
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The group announced its formation on 23 January 2012. The United States has designated Jabhat al-Nusra as a foreign terrorist organization, followed by the United Nations Security Council and it was the official Syrian branch of al-Qaeda until July 2016, when it ostensibly split. In early 2015, the group one of the major components of the powerful jihadist joint operations room named the Army of Conquest. It also operates in neighbouring Lebanon, in November 2012, The Washington Post described al-Nusra as the most successful arm of the rebel forces. In early 2015, there were reports that Qatar and other Gulf states were trying to get al-Nusra to split away from al-Qaeda, after which they would support al-Nusra with money. Western observers and a Syrian observer considered such a split unlikely, other Syrian observers considered such a split conceivable or imminent. With members of al-Qaeda still enmeshed throughout the leadership, it can be considered that Al-Qaeda is not external to the group. After the announcement, numerous senior al-Qaeda members still within the group have been targeted by the US in airstrikes, the groups leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, in his first recorded video message, stated its new name would be Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. On 28 January 2017, following violent clashes with Ahrar al-Sham and other rebel groups, the al-Nusra Front is primarily made up of Syrian jihadists. In early 2014, Sami al-Oraydi, a top official in the group. On 10 June 2015, al-Nusra fighters shot dead at least 20 Druze civilians in a village one of them. Al-Nusras leadership issued an apology and claimed that the killings had been carried out against the groups guidelines, analysts have noted this could give the al-Nusra Front a greater long-term advantage. While it has the aim of establishing sharia and a caliphate. They particularly criticised ISILs enthusiasm for such as executing gay people, chopping limbs off. However, Al-Qaeda agrees that hudud punishments should be implemented in the long term, the main criticism of defectors from ISIL is that the group is killing and fighting other Sunni Muslims, and that they are unhappy that other Sunnis like Jabhat al-Nusra are being attacked by ISIL. A video called The Heirs of Glory was issued by al-Nusra, the video glorified the September 11 attacks and the Islamists Sayyid Qutb and Abdullah Azzam. Its magazine, Al Risalah, was first issued in July 2015, Al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri urged ISIL fighters to unite with all other jihadists against their enemies and stop the infighting. The Nusra Front praised the November 2015 Paris attacks, saying even though they view ISIL as dogs of hellfire

10.
Casualties of the Syrian Civil War
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Estimates of deaths in the Syrian Civil War, per opposition activist groups, vary between 321,358 and 470,000. On 23 April 2016, the United Nations and Arab League Envoy to Syria put out an estimate of 400,000 that had died in the war, UNICEF reported that over 500 children had been killed by early February 2012. Another 400 children were arrested and tortured in Syrian prisons. Both claims have been contested by the Syrian government, additionally, over 600 detainees and political prisoners died under torture. The number of fatalities in the conflict, according to the Syrian opposition website Syrian Martyrs, is 151,888, the number includes 35,859 rebels but does not include members of the government security forces or pro-government foreign combatants who have died. Other estimates range from 312,001 to 470,000, a number of Middle East political analysts, including those from the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper, also urged caution. In May 2013, SOHR stated that at least 41,000 of those killed during the conflict were Alawites, by April 2015, reportedly a third of the countrys 250,000 Alawites that were of fighting age had been killed. The following figures were all compiled by the SOHR which is considered a source on the matter. The figures are only for documented deaths, while the SOHR estimates another 125,360 undocumented deaths had occurred, except one death, all of the Hezbollah fatalities have occurred since September 2012. In early December 2013, rebels claimed that a pro-government Russian fighter was killed in fighting in Aleppo, in late 2015, it was reported 3–9 Russian OSM security contractors had been killed. However, this was denied by Russia, in addition,1,000 civilian government officials have also been killed. Due to the policy of counting rebel fighters that were not defectors as civilians a comprehensive number of rebels killed in the conflict. In March 2013, SOHR stated that the number of killed rebels. It should be noted that 54,951 foreign rebel and ISIL fighters, additionally,33 foreign pro-Kurdish fighters died. 54,982 foreign anti-government fighters have been killed by mid-December, the London-based European Centre for Syria Research put the number of Saudis killed even higher at 729 a month earlier in November 2013. The jihadist movement updated the number of Jordanians killed by late May 2014 to 342, according to another estimate, the Jordanian toll was at least 500 by July 2016. According to Abu Omar al-Shishani, the Chechen ISIS commander,500 militants from the Caucasus had been killed by mid-January 2014 since the start of the war, ramzan Kadyrov, Head of the Chechen Republic, stated in late November 2015, that 200 Chechens had died. According to a report by a Syrian military research center, as of September 2014,3,872 Saudi,3,691 Chechen and 2,904 Lebanese fighters had been killed, another 2,689 Saudi fighters were missing

11.
Cities and towns during the Syrian Civil War
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Syria is subdivided in a hierarchical manner into,14 Governorates 65 Districts For each governorate, the first city in the table is the governorate capital. The following towns are the capitals of the districts. The next towns are other significant towns, the last item is the rural area outside of the listed towns in each governorate. Each section details a summary of that city or towns history during the Syrian Civil War. The population figures are according to the 2004 official census. Click on the next to the column headings to sort alphabetically, based on population, District

12.
Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War
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The civil uprising prior to the Syrian Civil War was an early stage of protests – with subsequent violent reaction by the Syrian state – lasting from March to 28 July 2011. The uprising, initially demanding democratic reforms, evolved from initially minor protests, the rebel Free Syrian Army was created on July 29,2011. Before the uprising in Syria began in mid-March 2011, protests were relatively modest, Syria, until March 2011, for decades had remained superficially tranquil, largely due to fear among the people of the secret police arresting critical citizens. Minor protests calling for government reforms began in January, and continued into March and this did not result in protests. Demonstrators clashed with police, and confrontations escalated on 18 March after Friday prayers. Security forces attacked protesters gathered at the Omari Mosque using water cannons and tear gas, followed by live fire, on 20 March, a mob burned down the Baath Party headquarters and other public buildings. Security forces quickly responded, firing live ammunition at crowds, the two-day assault resulted in the deaths of fifteen protesters. Meanwhile, minor protests occurred elsewhere in the country, protesters demanded the release of political prisoners, the abolition of Syrias 48-year emergency law, more freedoms, and an end to pervasive government corruption. The events led to a Friday of Dignity on 18 March, when protests broke out in several cities, including Banias, Damascus, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir az-Zor. Police responded to the protests with tear gas, water cannons, at least 6 people were killed and many others injured. On 25 March, mass protests spread nationwide, as demonstrators emerged after Friday prayers, at least 20 protesters were reportedly killed by security forces. Protests subsequently spread to other Syrian cities, including Homs, Hama, Baniyas, Jasim, Aleppo, Damascus, over 70 protesters in total were reported killed. Even before the uprising began, the Syrian government had made numerous arrests of dissidents and human rights campaigners. In early February 2011, authorities arrested several activists, including political leaders Ghassan al-Najar, Abbas Abbas, police and security forces responded to the protests violently, not only using water cannons and tear gas, but also beating protesters and firing live ammunition. As the uprising began, the Syrian government waged a campaign of arrests that captured tens of thousands of people, according to lawyers and activists in Syria and human rights groups. In response to the uprising, Syrian law had changed to allow the police. Arrests focused on two groups, political activists, and men and boys from the towns that the Syrian Army would start to besiege in April, many of those detained experienced ill-treatment. Many detainees were cramped in tight rooms and were limited resources

13.
Siege of Homs
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The Siege of Homs was a military confrontation between the Syrian military and the Syrian opposition in the city of Homs as a part of the Syrian Civil War. The siege lasted three years from May 2011 to May 2014, and resulted in a withdrawal from the city. Nationwide anti-government protests began in March 2011, and clashes between security forces and protestors in Homs intensified in April, in early May 2011, the Syrian military conducted a crackdown against anti-government protesters in Homs, some of whom were armed and fired on security forces. By September, sectarian clashes and bloodshed in Homs between Alawites and Sunnis played a role in Homs than in the rest of Syria. In late December 2011, an Arab mission was sent to monitor the situation following the Arab League plan, following the abortive mission, the Syrian Army in February 2012 launched an offensive against Baba Amr, shelling the entire district and blocking all supply routes. In early March, government forces launched an assault into Baba Amr. By early May 2012, following a UN brokered cease-fire, only sporadic street fighting and shelling occurred, during this time, the government was in control of most of the city. The opposition held between 15% and 20% of Homs while fighting for control of an area was still ongoing. In December 2012, the Syrian Army captured the district of Deir Baalba, leaving only the Old City, Khalidiya district, in mid-March, rebels attempted to retake Baba Amr, but were forced to pull back later in the month. In March and early April 2013, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia moved fully into the Homs’ fighting, in late July, government forces captured the Khalidiya district. In early May 2014, following an agreement reached between the government and the rebels, rebel forces were allowed to evacuate the city, leaving Homs under full government control. On 15 March 2011, a protest movement against the Syrian government began to escalate, major issues included government corruption and repression. The protests spread to Homs on 18 March, after calls for a Friday of Dignity. Thousands of protesters took to the streets after Friday prayers, attempting to disperse the crowds, police conducted many arrests and assaulted protesters. As protests continued into April, security forces fired on demonstrators, Homs became one of the most restive cities in Syria, with some activists labeling it the Capital of the Revolution. On 6 May, following the operation against protestors in Daraa. On 8 May, following the clashes two days before, tanks rolled into several districts of Homs and started a manhunt for all known opposition activists. The night before the start of the operation, the military cut electricity to the city, during the assault, Army units entered the districts of Bab Baba and Sebaa Amr

14.
Siege of Hama (2011)
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The Siege of Hama was among the nationwide crackdowns by the Syrian Government during the early stage of the Syrian Civil War. The events beginning in July 2011, were described by anti-government activists in the city as a siege or blockade, on 1 July, with more than 400,000 protestors, Hama witnessed the largest demonstration against Bashar al-Assad. Two days later, Syrian tanks deployed at Hama, in an operation led to more than 16 civilian deaths at the hands of Syrian security forces. On 31 July, the Government of Syria sent the Syrian Army into Hama to control protests on the eve of Ramadan, as part of a nationwide crackdown, nicknamed the Ramadan Massacre. At least 142 people across Syria died on that day, including over 100 in Hama alone, by 4 August, more than 200 civilians had been killed in Hama. Hama has been the epicenter of Syrian civil war since the event of the 1963 Baathist coup. As early as 1964, a wide scale riot, often described as uprising, broke out in the city, and was violently suppressed by the military, resulting in more than 70 citizens killed. The 1982 Hama massacre claimed the lives of some 10,000 -25,000 Hama citizens and Islamic militants, major disturbances in Hama began on 3 June 2011, primarily in the city center, and on occasion in the suburbs. The Syrian security forces shot dead up to 25 people when they dispersed a demonstration by tens of thousands of locals in the city of Hama on Friday 3 June 2011. On 1 July 2011, with more than 400,000 protestors, soon after, Assad sacked Hamas governor. Two days after, Syrian tanks deployed at Hama, in an operation led to more than 20 civilians killed by the Syrian security forces. As the city of Hama became one of the opposition centers of the popular uprising, taking place in Syria. An armed blockade was imposed on the city on 3 July, on 6 July, a surprising step was taken by the US ambassador, Robert Ford, when he visited Hama and declared that he will stay there till Friday. Syria reacted with anger with this visit and he maybe saw one teenager with a stick at a checkpoint, and the government is going on with these absolute fabrications about armed gangs running the streets of Hama and elsewhere. Hama has shown itself to be a model of peaceful protest and that was why our ambassador chose to go there. The French ambassador joined the US one on that day to show the French support to the victims,7 July had seen both the French and American ambassadors to Syria toured some of the nation’s hotspots. The American ambassador Robert Ford, had travelled, with the French ambassador Éric Chevallier to the city of Hama in what Robert Ford said was a gesture of solidarity with local protesters there. On 8 July, more tanks were deployed around the outskirts of Hama, as part of a strengthening blockade, Local support for the government had imploded by 30 July in both Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Hama

15.
2012 Homs offensive
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The offensive began by artillery bombardment by the Syrian armed forces in response to an attack by the Free Syrian Army on Syrian Army checkpoints on 3 February 2012, killing 10 soldiers. Government forces then began to bombard the city using tanks, helicopters, the Syrian government has denied that the bombardment is indiscriminate and blamed armed groups for the civilian deaths, including the deaths of foreign journalists. Heavy shelling continued on 29 February, as the Syrian armed forces launched an operation to restore control of the Baba Amr neighbourhood. The Syrian government announced that the army was being sent into the area and were cleaning it from rebel fighters, at this stage, water supplies, electricity and communications were entirely cut off in the Baba Amr district according to opposition activists. Heavy clashes continued throughout the day, as the Syrian Armys 4th Armoured Division sent in tanks and infantry. Baba Amr was finally secured by the Syrian army on the morning of 1 March, as rebel forces claimed they had made a retreat from the area, after running low on weapons. The bombardment began on the 30th anniversary of the Hama Massacre, the Khaldiyeh neighborhood in particular was targeted when the bombardment began on 3 February, and opposition activisits soon claimed that the initial attack led to over 200 deaths. They later raised their estimate of the toll to over 260. Within a few days, the opposition Syrian National Council claimed the toll had reached 416. They later revised their toll down to 290 killed in that period, according to an Al Arabiya correspondent in Homs, the district hospital was also destroyed. The correspondent claimed that at least 337 people had been killed, however, the SNC and Al Arabiya figures were not independently confirmed and several western media outlets reported the death toll at around 200. The Free Syrian Army vowed to fight back with intense operations against the governments forces, opposition activists posted many videos depicting burning buildings and dead bodies that they said were filmed in Homs. At least 30 buildings, including a hospital, were said to have destroyed or severely damaged in the shelling. According to the SOHR,14 Syrian Army soldiers and five army defectors were killed in the shelling and fighting in addition to the civilian deaths. The Local Coordination Committees also initially claimed that the toll was more than 200 people. They later revised their figures, confirming only 55 deaths, on 5 February, the LCC stated that they had documented the names of 212 people that had been killed in Homs, but counted only 181 bodies. At least 300 rockets struck Homs on the morning of 6 February, leading to 15 deaths, with some claiming up to 50 dead, and later 95 dead. The FSA attempted a counter-attack against the government forces, managing to hold them at bay for a time before they had to fall back

16.
December 2011 Jabal al-Zawiya massacres
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Human rights and opposition activists said that some 200 people were killed by Syrian security forces in the hills and villages of the north-western province of Idlib on 19 and 20 December 2011. The state Syrian news agency claimed that 1 terrorist was killed, the event occurred following a large scale defection of hundreds of Syrian soldiers on 19 December, while some 70 of them were gunned down by loyalists. On 20 December, government forces backed by tanks reportedly launched an operation to hunt down the defectors who managed to escape. On 19 December, the FSA suffered its largest loss of life when new defectors tried to abandon their positions, opposition activist groups, specifically the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, reported that 72 defectors were killed as they were gunned down during their attempted escape. The Syrian Army lost three soldiers during the clashes, the next day, SOHR stated that in all 100 defectors were killed or wounded. Also, the day, the SOHR updated its number of civilians killed by government security forces in the province for the previous day from 37 to 111. It had been called a massacre, alaa El Din Al Youssef, a Syrian opposition member in Idlib, described the governments attack on the area of Idlib and Jabal al-Zawiya as a massacre. Civilians were surrounded by security forces who killed 100 of us, the corpses of those killed were left in the streets and the mosques and we are not allowed to bury any of them. Some of those killed cannot be recognised, some were burnt and some beheaded with their hands tied. We are really scared because the area might be stormed once again and this claim can not be independtly confirm. On 21 December, it was reported that the FSA had taken control over large swathes of Idlib province including some towns and villages

17.
Battle of Idlib (2012)
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The First Battle of Idlib was a battle that was fought in the city of Idlib, located in the north of Syria, starting on 10 March 2012. After three days of fighting, the Syrian Army recaptured the city, prior to the battle, there were months of clashes around Idlib which had seen the rebels taking over the city. As early as 12 February, it was reported that the forces within the city of Idlib were under preparations for the inevitable attack by Syrian Army troops. The Syrian Revolution General Commission reported that 54 people were killed by security force gunfire across Syria on 15 February, the LCC put the number of deaths in Idlib at 11 fatalities. Chinese media reported photos of Idlib residents escaping an attack on the city. On 16 February, Russian sources reported that several of the Idlib neighbourhoods fell under the control of armed groups who were looting government buildings and private offices. The LCC reported that a massacre took place in the city, with 38 people killed, most in the Muhameel, heavy tank fire was also reported in the area. Several days later, FSA gunmen killed a state prosecutor and a judge, the week before the battle, there was a military buildup and reinforcements were prepared for the assault. On 9 March, a column of 42 tanks and 131 troop carriers headed towards the city, on the morning of 10 March, the Syrian army started the offensive by heavily shelling the city with artillery, mortar and tanks. Later, infantry backed by tanks began to move into Idlib from the southeast, witnesses described a shell landing every two minute in the city, with no definite targets. The rebels were unable to back the shelling of the city which lasted until the night with a lull at midday. After the end of the shelling, the army stormed the city with troops carriers, on the first day of fighting, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 14 civilians were killed and that 150 people had been arrested and shortly after executed by the army. The commander of the Free Syria Army based in Turkey and an activist said that his soldiers had managed to hit one helicopter and he also stated that 30 soldiers had defected during the fighting, and had defected with 2 tanks. An activist estimated the toll of the first day at at least 20 killed based on casualties brought to a hospital in the city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 16 rebels and seven soldiers had killed in Idlib. Syrian media gave the figures of 14 rebels killed and no military casualties, a resident of the city told Al Jazeera that many people fled the city and that snipers were everywhere. He added that the government troops were conducting house to house searches to arrest opposition members, more than 30 dead were brought to the same hospital on the second day of fighting. The hospital could not cope with the number of injured

The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (Arabic: القوات المسلحة العربية السورية‎) are the military forces of the Syrian Arab …

Part of a Syrian SA-6 site built near the Beirut-Damascus highway, and overlooking the Bekaa Valley, in early 1982.

A Syrian soldier manning a checkpoint near Damascus

A Syrian soldier aims a Type 56 assault rifle from his position in a foxhole during a firepower demonstration, part of Operation Desert Shield. The soldier is wearing a Soviet-made Model ShMS nuclear-biological-chemical warfare mask.